Strength Is Relative
by Pyrofoxxxx
Summary: Jaune was weak. That much was obvious. Without training, without power, he'd never become strong. Lost in the woods, he finds a broken sword that gives him power. Didn't give him any training, but that'll come in time.
1. Uuuuuuh fucking prologue or something

**Hurr Durr, I no own Bleach or RWBY show, DURR. Fucking seriously. This is fucking _FANFICTIO_ _N._ Don't be a retard. Use your brain.**

 _"You want to be a King? Fine. I'll make you a King. You'll have to prove yourself though. If you can't, I'll crush your skull and take your body." - Zangetsu_

* * *

Twelve year old Jaune Arc sighed as he walked through the woods near his home. All he ever wanted to do was become a Hunter. It wasn't just to impress people, to prove himself to his family, but to fit in, to not be looked down upon for being weak, and most importantly to help people. The only problem with that was that his parents, both being Hunters, had always overlooked him, not seeing any potential for growth inside of him. Of course they loved him and took care of him just as his sisters did, but they never helped him in any way towards achieving his game. They all thought he needed to be babied becausse he was weak. He wanted to prove them wronng.

'Haah, man, it's so hot out today.' He thought as a droplet of sweat rolled down his face. It was the middle of summer, but he was underneath the shade of the trees. It shouldn't be this hot. Well, maybe it should, considering the moisture of the outside air, but there weren't any lakes within a mile of his home, and any rainclouds that would provide such moisture would make it colder outside. 'Oh. Oh no. How far did I go?' He suddenly stopped where he stood and a cold feeling rushed up and down his spine, settling in his stomach and making him feel sick to his stomach. He didn't know where he was.

'Calm down Jaune, you can just go… a-ah, no, I turned a lot on my way here, I can't go directly in the direction I was just coming from, I can't be sure that was the way I came from. I should've take a knife or something with me to mark the trees…' He admonished himself. How could he could he be expected to protect people, when he himself couldn't even arm himself? How could he protect others, when he got lost so EASILY?!

"Alright, I can do this," He attempted to keep his spirits up, cheering himself on. "Just have to keep going forward in hopes that I find a road. I can do this, I can do this, I CAN-" His chant was cut off as he tripped and fell flat on his face. "Ow… what in Oum's name did I trip… on?" Looking back at where his foot had gotten caught, a pitch black piece of rectangular metal jutted out of the ground, unmoved by the force of Jaune's foot colliding with it, which probably meant something was buried beneath the ground, or the object was _very_ heavy. Possibly both.

"What is that?" He murmured confusedly, standing to move closer and inspect the object. Reaching down, he grabbed onto it and instantly gravity seemed to have multiplied twenty times over. He instantly let go as he felt his bones begin to crack, his skin began to split, sweat poured down his face, and droplets of blood ran out of his ears and onto the ground. As soon as he let go of it though, that all stopped. He backpedalled away from it, straight into the trunk of one of the trees.

' _ **Grab me. Pull me out.**_ ' A strange, distorted voice could be heard from… somewhere around him.

"Huh?! Who's there?!" He shouted in a panicked manner, eyes and head darting in all directions around him. Where did that come from? Where was the person who told him to do that?

' _ **Down here. Pull me out.**_ ' The voice called to him again. What the… What the HELL?! ' _ **I promise that won't happen again.**_ ' The voice assured him, sounding as sincere as a disembodied voice could sound. ' _ **Please. Pull me out. I can't stand being here in the dirt.**_ '

Jaune, against his better judgment, wiped his forehead and hands of sweat, and tentatively put his hand around the object again. Seeing that the voice had been telling the truth, he wrapped his other hand around it and pulled upwards. No reaction. He pulled harder. No reaction. He pulled even harder. Still nothing. Only pulling upwards as hard as he could, was he able to even move it a centimeter.

"I don't think I can do it." Jaune panted, wiping the sweat out of his blue eyes. He been able to move a bit, but that was as much as he could do. That was stating the obvious though.

' _ **Try digging around me. It will be much easier.**_ ' The weird voice advised him, and he almost slapped himself in the face. Scratch that. He did. He felt so stupid.

After ten minutes of constant digging, he was able to expose more of the object, showing what seemed to be an extremely sharp edge, a handle, and a hollowed out inside portion of the whole thing. This was a blade. No, that'd be an insult. This was a _real_ sword. Not some kind of recreation, not some kind of toy, not something to play with. Even covered in dirt, this thing looked _dangerous_.

"Woah."

The distorted voice seemed to become irritated with his gaping. ' _ **Could you pull me out now? I have plenty of time on my hands, but you won't if you don't hurry up.**_ '

Jaune raised an eyebrow dumbly. "Wha?"

' **I said; pull me out, unless you want to be killed by that thing that's coming our way!** '

Jaune's head snapped towards the direction that he had just heard a tree fall in. He wasn't alone here. Well, he had already known that since he had the voice of what he could only assume was the sword with him, but now he had company. Acting quickly, he grabbed the handle of the sword and jerked, pulling out the handle and about nine inches of the blade.

"It's broken?! I won't be able to defend myself with this!" Jaune's shouted out in shock. Whatever was coming was big, and he doubted he'd be able to defend himself even if he had a full, unbroken weapon.

' _ **Shut up**_.' The voice actually growled at him, pissed off by the Jaune's lack of faith in it. ' ** _Just swing as soon as it comes into view. No sooner and no later. I'll do the rest._** '

Jaune took as best a stance as he thought was possible, raising the heavy piece of weapon he had in his hands above his head and waiting. Another crash occurred, and he could tell it was close. And big. Much bigger than anything he could handle. His instincts told him he had to run, but the voice assured him he would be fine, he just had to trust it. As he watched a ten foot tall black, bear-like creature burst into the clearing, he swung down in its general direction and closed his eyes, hoping he placed his trust correctly.

A few seconds went by, the only sounds he could hear being trees falling and the earth being ripped apart. And then… nothing. He slowly opened his eyes to peek, and suddenly they snapped open and he gawked. In front of him lay pure destruction. Nothing but a new ravine and fallen trees.

"What the… How the… E-Eh?" Jaune couldn't comprehend the damage that had been done. It was as simple as that. There was no way a broken sword could possibly do that. No way. Things just didn't work like that.

' **Now that the threat is out of the way…** ' The voice trailed off, seemingly in concentration. Jaune shook a good bit as gravity seemed to intensify around him and the surrounding area and he looked around, studying the environment around him. The thing that freaked him out the most was the white material seeping out of the hole he had dug with his hands to retrieve the broken sword from, slowly approaching.

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" He cried, swinging the sword again in an attempt to do what he had done just a few seconds ago, but ultimately failing. "W-What?! Come on, work!" He swung again, but the weight of the blade threw him off balance and he fell to the ground, helpless to whatever the stuff that was approaching… the blade… was… oh. He watched in fascination as the white substance attached itself to the point at which the blade had been broken, it solidifying into a complete blade that ended about four feet from the handle with a hollowed out portion in the center. It also got a hell of a lot heavier. "I… I don't understand what's happening."

The voice, which he could now safely say belonged to the sword, yawned. _It fucking yawned_. ' _ **I don't care. Look, you helped me, so I'm helping you. There's several energy signatures around a mile to your left. You look like a confused kid who just wants to go home. We should go to them. If worst comes to worst, we can fight. If it doesn't, they could help you. The choice is up to you.**_ '

Jaune took a deep, calming breath, and wiped his brow, before pointing his left hand in the direction the sword had told him to go in. It hadn't mislead him yet, so he'd believe what it told him for now. "That way?"

' _Yeah._ '

Jaune nodded and lifted the sword onto his shoulder. Hopefully this would lead him back home.


	2. Timeskips because I'm fucking lazy

**That feel when bold and italic texts won't work properly...**

 **AAAAAAANYWAY; I don't own Bleach, nor do I own RWBY. If you for some reason thought I did, then you are dumb. Stop being dumb.**

* * *

Fifteen year old Jaune Arc breathed out heavily as he removed his blood-stained T-shirt, wiping the sweat off of his face with one of the more clean parts of said bloody shirt. Looking down to admire the toned body he'd earned in the last three years, he smiled as the cuts he had gained during his most recent training session bubbled and closed, leaving no trace that they'd ever been there. No scars, not even a hint of pink flesh.

"Y'know, I'm really glad I got lost. I don't think I'd ever have gotten as strong as I am if I hadn't." Jaune announced, throwing his ruined shirt to the ground and looking towards the other occupant of the field in which they stood. "Thanks, Zangetsu."

Zangetsu was a tall, somewhat muscular albino man with white hair, black sclera, and yellow irises. He wore a loose fitted black and white Kimono, black and white armor like plating around his neck, black and white tattoo like bands on his forearms, and a white version of the sword Jaune held in his hand to his back.

" _ **Che.**_ " Zangetsu snorted, grinning from ear to ear. " _ **You're not strong enough. You wouldn't even be able to sustain my Bankai for a second. You'd tear your body apart the instant you tried.**_ " He laughed in a psychotic manner and cracked his neck.

"Yeah, you've told me that. That's why you won't give it to me." Jaune deadpanned at him. Why did he always feel the need to bring that up?

Zangetsu amusedly stared back. " _ **The more you train, the closer you get to achieving that strength. You may gain Bankai eventually, but until then, I won't be satisfied with your strength. I give it a year.**_ " He shrugged. " _ **Maybe two. If your body isn't ready at that point, I'll be twice as hard on you!**_ "

Jaune cringed. Fuck that. Zangetsu already hit hard enough to shatter bones even when he was going easy on him. Twice that and he'd probably gouge some holes out. "Why do you want me get to that point so badly, anyway?" He frowned and placed his sword on his back, jabbing a thumb towards it as bandages seemed to form out of nothing and secured it into place. "I already earned your shikai, and you said that would be enough, right? So why?"

Zangetsu spit on the ground in Jaune's direction. " _ **Do you not know how to listen? I told you shikai would've been enough for Ichigo. You're not him. You're nowhere near as strong or as proficient as he was with mine.**_ " Here Zangetsu narrowed his eyes. " _ **I was even held back, and yet even after achieving a false Bankai, such a power still made his bones creak from how much pressure it would put on his body.**_ " Suddenly, he was in front of Jaune his hand held directly over the boy's face. " _ **Do you understand, Jaune? Even while restrained, I'd still break your bones. The possibility of oppenents approaching my level of power is very real, if unlikely.**_ "

Zangetsu sighed, dropping his hand down to tap Jaune's chest with the back of his hand. " ** _I don't care about the things you care about, Jaune. My only goal is to protect you. If I had to kill your parents, your sisters, everyone you love to protect you, I would. But I don't need to. So I won't._** "

Jaune was… understandably shocked. Zangetsu was one scary motherfucker, he knew that, but to be held back and still make someone's bones creak? He really wasn't very strong. Maybe strong in comparison to some of the people nowadays, but in comparison to Zangetsu? He was practically an ant in front of God. Maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but that's what it felt like. He even understood why Zangetsu didn't care about the people special to him, seeing as Zangetsu seemed to to just want to cut people to pieces. He'd once been told that he was like Ichigo, who had wielded Zangetsu before him, and that's why he had chosen to help Jaune. That and the fact that he didn't want to end up stuck in the ground somewhere again.

"Am I… Am I really that weak?" Jaune murmered, now a bit depressed.

Zangetsu shrugged. " _ **Maybe. Maybe not. You do have potential, Jaune. You definitely aren't the strongest, but you could be with training and ah,**_ " He popped his knuckles and pulled his inverted Zangetsu from behind him. " ** _p_ _ositive reinforcement._**"

Jaune began to sweat heavily as he too drew his own Zangetsu from his back to fight Zangetsu again. With Zangetsu. Oh boy. This was gonna be of so MUCH FUN! Sarcasm very much so intended.

" _ **You really want to be strong? Alright, I'll make you strong. I'll make you strong enough that you'll stand at the very top.**_ " A maniac smile spread across Zangetsu's face as he pulled his blade back, red and white reiryoku spewing from the edge like a solar flare. " _ **Getsuga…**_ "

Jaune copied his movements, his own blade shooting out a pure white stream of his own reiryoku. "TENSHO!"

Their swords met at the center of the field, the clash of their energy in Jaune's inner world seeming almost atomic, but they continued on even through that to make Jaune stronger.

* * *

Fifteen year old Ruby Rose could be seen being bear hugged by her older sister Yang Xiao Long as they rode together with the dozens of other students on one of the many bullheads traveling to Beacon.

"Oh man, I can't believe my little sister is coming to Beacon early with me! This is the best day ever!" The seventeen year old blonde cried out in joy, grinning as she hugged Ruby even tighter.

"Please stop." Ruby groaned, at which point Yang complied, but pouted at her.

"But I'm so proud of you!"

Ruby sighed. "It was nothing, really."

Yang disagreed. "It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bee's knees!"

"I don't want to be the bee's knees!" Ruby threw her hands up in an exaggerated manner. "I want to be a normal girl with normal knees!" She cried.

"You should stop trying to be a Huntress, then." A voice from behind her commented. She spun around and blinked rapidly. A tall boy with shoulder length blonde hair stood a few feet away from her, leaned against the side of the Bullhead, staring out of the window at the ground below.

"Eh?" Ruby uttered, honestly shocked. What did he mean by that?

"You want to be a normal girl? I doubt that." He remarked, turning to stare at her with sapphire blue eyes. "You want to be a Huntress. That's not normal. You want to be normal? Be a bigot. Be a racist. Be a civilian. Those are normal things." He informed, glancing past her for a moment to look at the befuddled expression on Yang's face. He looked back at her. "You don't seem to want to do those things. You seem like you want to help people. Like you want be a hero."

Ruby nodded quickly. "Of course I want to help people!" She stated, before looking down. "I just don't want people to think I'm somebody special…" She admitted, twiddling her thumbs.

"Everyone is born equal. It's what you do, and who you are that makes you special. If you've done something others couldn't, you're special. I don't know if you're special or not, but you seem like a good person to me, if not a bit shy." He moved to stand in front of her and held his hand out. "Jaune Arc. It's nice to meet you…"

Ah! "Ruby Rose! It's nice to meet you too." Ruby nodded as they shook hands and then directed him towards the blonde bombshell behind her. "… Aaand this is my sister, Yang."

"It's nice to meet you too. I hope we can all be friends." Jaune offered his hand to Yang.

"Yang Xiao Long. Good to see another blonde here, especially since you just made my life a lot easier." She grinned, releasing his hand.

Jaune's brow twitched almost unnoticeabley. This would be a long four years to become a hunter.


End file.
